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Lincoln Crossing the Rubicon, by Charles Adams When the civil war started in the Roman Republic, Julius Caesar defied the civil authority and crossed the River Rubicon in 49 B.C. This was a violation of the Roman constitution, for no army was to cross the Rubicon and enter Rome under arms. Within a few months Caesar was the master of Rome and Italy. He was elected by the senate as consul and appointed dictator for life, when by the constitution such appointments were for six months only. When the civil war finally ended with the triumph of Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, Cicero lamented, Our beloved republic is gone forever. How right he was, for republican government would not return to Rome and most of Western civilization for almost 2,000 years. Caesar rode roughshod over the Roman constitution, and that resulted in his assassination. The killing of a tyrant was a patriotic act, a belief held by both the Romans and the Greeks. John Wilkes Booth felt that way about Lincoln. There are other similarities between Caesar's story and that of Lincoln. Both held supreme military command. Both suspended civilian authority and tossed their respective constitutions out the window in the interest of public order. But the final outcome was not the same, as civilian authority returned in America, but not in Rome. It is not necessary to go back into ancient history to see a common pattern unfold: in a time of national crisis, a strong leader assumes extraordinary powers; constitutional rights are suspended; and a dictator rules by decree and perpetuates himself after the crisis is over. This happened in Germany in the 1930s, which ended the Weimar Republic and put the National Socialists in power after suspending the German constitution. Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista regime and offered to institute democratic elections and a restoration of the 1940 constitution. But once in power, Castro assumed and kept dictatorial powers. America was lucky. The dictatorial pattern did not remain following the Civil War, but it could have and, for a time, the Constitution hung by a thread. Suspending the Constitution Fort Sumter was bombarded on April 12, 1861. By the end of the month, the Republican administration had ripped the guts out of the Constitution, as constitutional government passed away in the United States, not to return for almost five years. Here is the sequence of events: First, on April 15, Lincoln called up the militia from all of the states to put into the field an army of more than 75,000 men. The Constitution puts this power with the Congress: Article I, Section 8, sets forth the powers of Congress: To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections.. Six governors rejected Lincoln's call as illegal. The governor of North Carolina, John Ellis, responded, I regard the levy of troops made by the administration for the purpose of subjugating the states of the South as in violation of the Constitution, and a usurpation of power. I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina. The other five governors answered in the same vein. Second, also on April 15, Lincoln called Congress into session, as required by the Constitution for extraordinary Occasions, but delayed the meeting of Congress almost three months. By contrast, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, Roosevelt called Congress into session the very next day, December 8, 1941. Third, less than a week later, April 21, he ordered the purchase of war materials, five naval vessels, which under the Constitution required congressional appropriations. Fourth, the same day, he ordered the navy to blockade all Southern ports. A blockade is an act of war, requiring the resolution of Congress. Fifth, on April 27, he suspended the right of habeas corpus
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